163 to lose jobs when CSM Bakery Solutions facility closes

A food manufacturing facility in Sugar Land will shut down this fall, at a cost of 163 jobs, due to a reshuffling at its Atlanta-based parent company.

CSM Bakery Solutions will close the local plant Oct. 1. It's also cutting two other facilities in the United Kingdom, while adding capacity and making equipment and infrastructure upgrades at its home base and in several locations, including Dallas.

President and CEO Robert Sharpe said in a statement last week that the moves are designed to "enhance our overall productivity, capabilities and capacity to allow us to profitably grow the business in the years ahead." The job cuts were announced Monday by the Texas Workforce Commission.

While declining to detail operations in the Fort Bend County community, CSM spokesman Dennis Murphy said the company decided the manufacturing would be more economical elsewhere. The facility is limited in what and how much can be produced, he said.

CSM serves customers in more than 100 countries. It provides specialized ingredients, including dry mixes, fillings, icings, glazes and mélange, and it bakes finished products such as cakes, doughnuts, brownies and specialty breads. It also owns several brands, including BakeMark, Brill, Meister Marken, Multifoods, Waldkorn and Westco.

Murphy said the company is assisting workers in finding other jobs, including jobs within the company when possible. It's giving severance packages to eligible workers, though he wouldn't elaborate on those packages.

Jennifer May, director of economic development for Sugar Land, learned about the layoffs late last week.

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"We take very seriously every job within Sugar Land and never like to hear of a business closing down," she said. "But overall, we feel like the impact to the city will be minimal."

She said there are more than 63,000 jobs in the city, and the commercial real estate market continues to perform well.

Keri Curtis Schmidt, president and CEO of the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce, also remained upbeat. She cited Schlumberger's decision to relocate its area headquarters to Sugar Land, the expansion of Applied Optoelectronics and the addition of a new FedEx facility in Missouri City.

"While it is always difficult to hear news of layoffs, we are fortunate to have more good news than bad," she said in an email.

As for CSM, Sharpe insisted the cutbacks in Sugar Land, coupled with investments in places like Dallas, Minnesota, California and the U.K., show a commitment to the future.

"In the next two years, we will dedicate more than 150 million euros to position our company for long-term growth," he said.